Question

The slide at a playground

has a height of 22 feet. The
distance between the foot
of the ladder and the end of
the slide is 10 feet. What is
the length of the slide?
Round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

c = 24.17 feet

Explanation:

Right Triangles

A right triangle is a special triangle that has an interior angle of 90°.

In right triangles, Pythagora's Theorem is satisfied:

`c^2=a^2+b^2`

Where c is the hypotenuse (longest side) of the triangle, and a and b are the legs or the smaller sides.

The slide can be thought of as a right triangle whose hypotenuse is the slide itself and the legs are the height of the ladder and distance between the foot of the ladder and the end of the slide.

So we have:

`c^2=22^2+10^2`

`c^2=484+100=584`

`c=√(584)`

c = 24.17 feet